Karen lost one of the size 30 zebra midges I tied for CFR and asked for a replacement. While tying, I decided to throw in a few extra for the staff. Then I remembered I like to debarb all my hooks before tying.

In this case, the hook prep took almost as long as the tying.

Mickfly
Fish Friendly - Life's too short not to enjoy every minute on the river.

I guess the real question might be--why bother with putting barbs on #30s? I don't know if I could even see the barb on those tiny ones--then again, that's probably exactly your point.

I bought some Daiichi hooks yesterday in size 8 (for bass flies). I tied a few this morning and noticed how much smaller their barbs are compared to other hooks like Mustads and even Tiemcos. They were also much easier to mash down than those from Mustad. I can only imagine how small the barbs must be on Daiichi's smallest hooks. BTW, I really like the Daiichi's. Might have to try some for trout flies later.

There are many experienced fly fishers who say that micro-barbs like the ones on those Daiichi hooks are actually better for the fish that fishing barbless. Larry Tullis, for example, contends that barbless hooks are likely, to dislodge, move, then lodge again during a fight, often several times. Having a microbarb on a hook causes it to hold better, yet isn't that much more difficult to unhook once you've landed the fish.

Mickfly
Fish Friendly - Life's too short not to enjoy every minute on the river.